Walking through the racks of your local comic book store you might spot Hack/Slash and think that its just another horror comic. But if you read it youll find that its one of the more inventive and clever books out there on the shelf. Its only been around for a short time so it has yet to reach the symbolic heights of a book like The Walking Dead, but give it time.

Hack/Slash tells the stories of Cassie Hack and her indomitable partner Vlad. They hunt a certain kind of killer, serial killers that have come back from the dead and have now become slashers. Cassie learned her trade as the daughter of a slasher, The Lunch Lady. The new trade paperback of Hack/Slash

collects the first three specials of Hack/Slash and contains appearances by Goth icon Messy Stench, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and 30 Days of Night co-creator Steve Niles. Also they all get killed!

Tim Seeley: It was really fun. You get home and youre like Oh my God! I have seen so many things. So many dorky things.

DRE: Did a lot of people stop by your booth?

TS: Yeah definitely. This is the first year people were actually like, Oh its Hack/Slash guy. Finally it wasnt like hey there is the GI Joe guy.

DRE: What issues of GI Joe did you draw?

TS: I drew issues 24 to 43. Now I am drawing the Dark Elf Trilogy which is a Forgotten Realms thing. Then in my in-between time I am trying to squeeze in some writing. I am going to be one those pain in the ass guys that does both.

DRE: Whats funny is that you dont draw the book you created.

TS: After you draw all day as a staff artist you get home and youre like Fuck this.

DRE: What does staff artist mean exactly?

TS: Basically I am here to do one book a month and then when anything needs fixing or emergency stuff I am here to change artists work and piss them off.

DRE: I used to go to Messy Stenchs website before I found SuicideGirls and you included her as a character in one of your books, do you know her?

TS: Yeah, she is a pretty good friend of mine. Actually she used to live here and actually met her through a personal ad. We emailed back and forth just as friends. Right away we hit it off pretty good. That was great. I love that girl.

DRE: Did she have to sign anything to be in your book?

TS: No, I was like Hey if I make a lot of money out of this book I will pay you. She was really like excited do it because she always wanted to be a comic book character. Weve talked about doing a comic book called Meet Messy Stench. But it just never came together because we could never find anybody to publish it. It was just too raw and disgusting. This was a chance for me put her in a book. She fit in real well with Robert Kirkman, Steve Niles and Skottie Young.

DRE: How do you know Robert Kirkman?

TS: We go back years from when we were in the trenches of indie comic books. Kirkman was the guy that got famous the fastest and he was gracious enough to let me kill him, which I appreciate it quite a lot.

DRE: I really like Hack/Slash but it seems more like a movie idea than a comic book.

TS: Yeah definitely. I obviously watch a lot of movies. I am a big dork but it's never been something I wanted to work in necessarily. I came up with a good movie but I wanted to do it as a comic book first. I think every comic book creator at certain point says they have to make something that can be a movie some day with action figures, lunchboxes and the whole deal. Its like your version of buying real estate because you are a nerd and you can't do anything mathematically or financially except for making shit up. So I think this was my investment idea, because I knew I could sell it someday. I am going to sell out. I admit it.

DRE: At least you are willing to admit it, unlike like a lot of other people.

TS: Yeah I mean there are definitely things I come up that won't be a movie in a million fucking years and I am good with that you. But you have to be mercenary about certain things.

DRE: How long you have been a SuicideGirls member?

TS: It was a Christmas present from another comic book artist last year.

DRE: It's great, isnt it?

TS: Yeah man, it's a distraction everyday from work. Like I should be drawing but then Im like hey what did Stormy write today?

DRE: Do you use read SuicideGirls journals to come up with stuff for Cassie?

TS: Yes, if I need Cassie to have some new funky clothes I can just go on SuicideGirls and pick and choose what I want her to wear.

DRE: Which girls?

TS: I think Stormy is the penultimate SuicideGirl. Ive talked to her and she appeared in Hack/Slash versus Evil Ernie. As far as attitude, Claudia is so bad ass.

DRE: How many issues of Hack/Slash have come out?

TS: There were three issues, Girls Gone Dead. Euthanized and Comic Book Carnage, which are collected in the trade paperback. The fourth one is with Evil Ernie which wont be in the trade. The trade does have some additional material like an eight page Christmas story which is illustrated like a childrens book.

DRE: Who owns Evil Ernie now?

TS: There is whole bunch of cumulated history too but Chaos Comics under Brian Pulido went under and all the properties went up for sale. They were bought by a company called Tales of Wonder. I had said in an interview that someday I would like to have Cassie and Vlad fight Evil Ernie. So the people that owned it got a hold of me and said Hey we like this idea too. So I met up with them at last years San Diego Comicon and our talks led to them wanting to bring back the entire Chaos line through Devils Due

DRE: Did Brian Pulido work with you on the book?

TS: I asked Brian to write it with me but hes distanced himself from the characters since he lost the rights. For myself I spent two weeks just reading Evil Ernie everyday.

DRE: How was it writing Ernie?

TS: Oh man it was a blast. When you write a character like Ernie, you are digging back into your teenage years. Ernie is that sort of just fuck the world, dont give a damn. I fucking loved it.

DRE: Could Hack/Slash ever become a deeper book or you?

TS: Oh I think eventually. Right now Hack/Slash is an experiment for us because we first did it as just a 48 page one shot. Now we are going to try and do a three issue mini series called Land of Lost Toys that starts in November. Well see how that goes.

DRE: With Hack/Slash, what came first the concept or the characters?

TS: Definitely the concept. We had a marathon of slasher movies right before Halloween. After watching those movies my brain was like mush because they are so brilliant. I was taking a bath and I thought, why isnt there some girl that kills slashers.

DRE: Will the next miniseries go into Vlads origin?

TS: I think people might be not as interested if actually know it exactly. So I will drag it out as long as I can. You always get hints in the stories. I figure if I give you like two or three hints every issue people can put it together.

DRE: Do you want to do more crossovers like Hack/Slash versus Jason?

TS: Yes, I actually talked to them about doing that. It seems that the legal stuff is too much. So it really wont happen that way. At some point I want to do Hack/Slash and The Crow. The Crow is a good slasher. The guy comes back from the dead and. Its essentially the slasher formula applied to a sympathetic character. So Id love to do that.

DRE: How is Hack/Slash doing in Hollywood?

TS: At San Diego I met with the new director that they lined up at. I think it has the best chance now than its ever had. I cant tell you his name until they sign all the papers but he is doing a big remake for another studio.

DRE: How involved with the film do you want to be?

TS: I have to trust him to do everything. He sends me stuff like the treatment and character designs. He treats me like he just wants to know if its in the vein of what I perceive as Hack/Slash. Sometimes I forget that a lot of movie guys are fans too. I definitely like that he is going to keep me in the loop.

DRE: Do you have anyone in mind to play Cassie?

TS: I know what the character looks like and I know the real person she is based but I really cant think of anyone in Hollywood that would work. Any of the SuicideGirls would do.

DRE: How come you keep changing artists on Hack/Slash, is it just who is available?

TS: Its definitely part of that because I am doing somewhat smaller books. The artists that I pick tend to get hired for something bigger directly after I use them on Hack/Slash. I really think I have done a good job of picking artists that could to be huge. I kind of enjoyed the switching of the artists because I think each story then has its own character.